Sheffield Wednesday comfortably beat Brighton & Hove Albion 3-1 to secure all three points in their Championship clash this afternoon.

Leroy Lita headed Michail Antonio's cross past Tomasz Kuszczak at the back post to give Wednesday the lead after five minutes.

Leonardo Ulloa came close to grabbing an instant equalier, but his volley was kept out by Chris Kirkland.

The home side continued to press and Lita almost found himself in on goal, but Adam El-Abd tracked back well to clear the danger.

Ashley Barnes was shown a straight red on 33 minutes after he kicked out at Kieran Lee.

Wednesday took full advantage of the resulting free kick when Danny Pugh finished off the ball into the box to make it 2-0.

Despite being down to 10 men, the Seagulls managed to get themselves back into the contest on 54 minutes when Craig Mackail-Smith cut the ball back to Andrea Orlandi, who finished well.

However, the celebrations were cut short when the home side restored their two-goal lead two minutes later through Antonio to confirm the win.